The Indian Navy will, on Thursday, will commission its Offshore Patrol Vessel INS Sumitra.
To be commissioned by Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral RK Dhowan, the ship will help enhance India's offshore surveillance capabilities. "The induction of INS Sumitra in the Eastern Naval Command and her basing at Chennai will enhance the offshore surveillance and maritime patrolling capability on India's eastern seaboard in addition to giving a fillip to anti-piracy operations actively being undertaken by the Indian Navy," a Defence release stated earlier this week.
INS Sumitra, built by Goa Shipyard Ltd, will have a displacement of about 2,200 tonnes. It measures about 105 metres in length and 13 metres at the beam. The ship is propelled by two SEMT Pielstick diesel engines, the 'largest' of its type to be inducted in the Indian Navy, enabling it to achieve a maximum speed of 25 knots and an endurance of about 6,000 nautical miles.
Apart from that, the ship's weapon and sensor outfit include a Super Rapid Gun Mount (SRGM) 76.2 mm gun with an electro-optic fire control system, two 30 mm guns as Close In Weapon Systems (CIWS), Kavach chaff launchers for self-protection and a state-of-art Electronic Warfare Suite comprising Sanket Mk III Electronic Support Measure (ESM) system and ELK 7036 Communication Intelligence (COMINT) system. The ship is also designed to operate one Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH).
INS Sumitra will be manned by eight officers and 105 sailorsabd will operate under the Eastern Naval Command under the operational control of the Naval Officer-in-Charge, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
This comes at a time when India is looking to boost its defence capabilities. Earlier last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inducted the warship INS Kolkata into the Indian Navy, while India's first indigenously built stealth Anti-Submarine Warfare Corvette, INS Kamorta, was commissioned into the Navy today by Defence Minister Arun Jaitley in August.
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